I landed with a crash on the hard wood floor and a cascade of pain fell on me, mainly on my lower back, the part which had received the main force of the impact. "Ow," I moaned softly.

Jack rushed over to my side. "Bloody hell, Kia. Are you all right?"

"Just peachy," I groaned and tried to sit up. I could feel something pop in my back and fell back onto the deck from the pain.

"Don't move," said Anne who was now beside me as well. "It'll only hurt worse."

"Thanks..." I grunted, "but I've... noticed that... already." It was getting hard to breathe. My breath came out in short gasps so the words I spoke were short and choppy.

"We'd better get you into your room," said Anne. "Sparrow, will you carry her?"

"It's Captain Sparrow to you," said Jack, emphasizing the Captain. He gently eased his hands underneath my body and lifted me up. I let out a small cry of pain, and Jack paused, waiting to see if I was okay.

"I'm fine... just.. get it... over with," I said, aching with every breath. The trip to my room hurt a lot, despite Jack's attempts to make the ride smoother. After what felt like a lifetime, Jack laid me onto my bed and I could breathe easier. "Thank you," I said, gratefully.

"Do you need anything?" Jack asked me.

"Some water would be nice." Jack left and returned with a cup full of water. I took a sip, then placed it on the counter next to my bed. "Why are you acting so... nice?" I asked Jack. It wasn't like him to be like this.

"What?" said Jack. "I can't be kind to you without you getting suspicious?"

"No," I said. "It's nice. I mean—I like it. It's just very odd behavior for you."

Jack opened his mouth to say something in response but Anne came bustling in, shoving him out of the way. "Now, let's see what's wrong with you," she said, standing next to me. "Where does it hurt?" she asked.

"It's sort of... around my back," I said.

She rolled me onto my side and began poking and prodding at my back. "Does this hurt?" she would ask. "Does it hurt there?"

"Ow! I yelled a couple of times. "Yes! That hurts like hell; stop doing that!"

"All right," she said when she was done and I was practically in tears from the pain, "it looks like yeh haven't broken anything, but I think yeh have a couple of bruised ribs. A day or two of rest should leave yeh as good as new."

"Thanks," I said, easing myself onto my back again. "How do you know all this?"

"Livin' with all men on a pirate ship and no one having any medicine experience teaches yeh how to patch people up real fast." She rook out some bandages from a bag she had slung over her shoulder and wrapped up my chest. Several minutes of shouting and cursing later, my chest was wrapped up and Anne left Jack and I alone.

"Hand me the book over there," I ordered Jack, motioning towards a book lying on my desk. Jack too it and—examining the title—brought it over to me.

"Why are you reading about pirates, luv?" asked Jack. "Isn't sailing under the black flag enough for you?"

"I figure it's best to know as much as I can, especially since I'm sailing beneath the black flag." I opened up the book to my bookmark and began to read. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack quietly slip out of the room.

Something was bugging me—why was Jack being so nice to me? I mean, it wasn't like he was being mean to me before. Not exactly. It had just always seemed as if he never really cared about me. And—knowing his reputation—I had no trouble beleiving I was just an object to him. But this sudden kindness... what did it mean? Did he actually and truly like me? And if I fell for him, would he merely cast me away like a child with a broken toy when he was finished with me?

Then there were my own thoughts about him that I was forced to sort through. I was unsure what to make of him. There were numerous things that annoyed me to hell. Like the way he always insisted on calling me "luv". And how he hated to admit he was wrong or that anyone was better than the "great Captain Jack Sparrow".

But as well as the things that I hated, there were some things that I loved. Like the twinkle in his eye whenever he smiled. And there was how he staggered around like a drunk—although he was half the time—yet was quick as a whip and always there if you ever needed him in a pinch. And the way he kissed me... it seemed damn near impossible that anyone could kiss with such passion but not care at all. Just the thought of him gave me butterflies in my already squirming stomach. Could I have been... in love?

Frustrated at myself, I made the decision to get my guitar. Somehow, music always helped a great deal if I was worried or needed to sort things out.

A couple minutes and an endless amount of pain later, I sat up on my bed with my guitar in my lap. I spent a couple minutes playing around; tuning it and figuring out the chords to a song that had been swimming around in my head for a while. Then, I played.

Jack's POV

I stood at the wheel of the Pearl for a half hour or so, watching the sea turn itself over and over against the side of the ship before I commanded Gibbs to take over at the head and went to check on Kia.

I was walking down the stairs when I stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell was I doing? Plenty of the crew had gotten over the injured over the years—some much worse than that—but never before had I paid so much attention to one of them. It's the fall, I tried to tell myself. I saw the fall and I know that I could have done something—anything—to have prevented it, or stopped it. That's why I'm so worried about her. But that wasn't the reason why, and I couldn't deny it. Maybe it was how when she hit the hard deck, I felt it too. Or it could have been the horrible feeling of utter helplessness I felt when she had grimaced with pain. And how I desperately wanted to be able to fix it.

I kept on walking, deep in my thoughts.

What was it that made me feel that way in the first place? She could be so aggravating! The way she always kept everything bottled up until she broke. And her cocky attitude was closely matched to mine—not an easy feat. She stubbornly refused to give into my antics for the longest time. Only recently had she willingly kissed me back.

I had to admit, however, she was an excellent kisser. And quite pretty, as well. Nothing like the whores of Tortuga, whose beauty came from nothing but too much makeup. Besides being beautiful, she also had a sharp mind. Although it might have proved to be annoying in the near future, for I wouldn't be able to trick her easily, it could have come in handy. And the way she...

My thoughts were interrupted as I approached Kia's room by a soft, musical voice. I stopped just outside her door. Listening closer, I discovered that it was Kia herself; playing guitar and singing. This is what I heard:

"—trail that I'll be hiking, just to see where it might go,

Many places yet to visit, many people yet to know.

For in following my derams, I will live and I will grow,

On a trail that waiting out there on the loose.

"So in search of love and laughter I'll be traveling 'cross these lands.

Never sure of where I'm going, for I haven't any plans.

So in time when you are ready, come and join me, take my hand.

And together we'll share life out on the loose.

"As I sit and watch the sunset and the daylight slowly fades,

I am thinking of tomorrow, and the friendships I have made.

I will treasure them for always, and I hope that you will too.

And forever we'll share life out on the loose.

"On the loose to climb a mountain, on the loose where I am free.

On the loose to live my life the way I think my life should be.

For I've only got a moment, and a whole world yet to see.

I'll be looking for tomorrow on the loose."

Her voice was beautiful; soft but at the same time loud enough to be heard over the guitar. It reminded me of the tinkling of bells; light and pure.

Addmitedly, she was not all that great when it came to playing the guitar. The only thing she was able to do was play chords. And even those she messed up ever couple of seconds, stopping sometimes to start over a section. But her singing made up for the rest.

I was on the verge on stepping into her room in order to embarass her tremendously, but she began playing again. More accurately and more passionately than before. She sang:

"Could this be love?

Could this be true;

That it was love,

That led me here to you?"

There was a pause filled with more strumming of the guitar and only a single mistake.

"And when we kissed,

I knew it was true.

I wish that I had,

The strength to say 'I love you.'"

She stopped and I heard the creak of her mattress followed by a long slur of curses. I vaguely wanted to go into her room, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Finally, after much thought and time trying decide, I walked in with my mouth open to make some comment about her not working on deck when I saw she was dead asleep, snoring slightly. I tiptoed out of the room and allowed her to sleep in peace.